An Echo of Legends: An ATLA Mystery Story (on hiatus)

Chapter 18: Bumi

When Bumi's eyes opened, the first thing he felt was the cold stone floor against him. Then he faintly registered a dull ache in his hand, and as he brought it to his face, he saw a bandage wrapped across his palm. He moved his head and saw Izumi, sitting against the stone wall, her eyes closed. Bumi shakily sat up, feeling slow and lethargic, trying to bring himself up to speed on what had happened. They were at the island, looking for a snake. Right, the snake, Bumi had found it, and it had bit him, and then he'd passed out. But this definitely wasn't the island. Next to him, Izumi stirred.

"You're awake," she said, rubbing her eyes, then, a little more energized, "You- you're awake!" Izumi wrapped her arms around him in a tight, but not unwelcome hug. 

"Woah," he said, very surprised, feeling his cheeks redden a little, "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Not that bad?" Izumi said, pushing the hair out of her eyes, "Not that bad?! You were out for three days!" 

"Wait? Three days?" Bumi repeated, "Where are we? What happened. I'm really confused."

"We're at an abandoned herbalist's institute," Izumi explained, "We came here to help you get better."

"What about the snake?" Bumi asked. She hesitated, and Bumi noticed dark circles under her eyes indicating tiredness, now that she was closer to him, but she seemed lighter, or freer, than before. 

"Bumi, I'm really sorry," she said quietly, "You were right. This obsession I've had with firebending, it's never going to go anywhere, and I'm sorry that I didn't realize that sooner." She smiled, "There are more important things, and you and Azula helped me see that."

"You don't need to apologize," Bumi said hastily, "It's really fine, and I glad I helped you, but, what do you mean with Azula?"

"We should probably go talk to her," Izumi said, "She's in the greenhouse. We need to figure out what to do next."

It was misty outside the institute, even though it was in the afternoon. Izumi led him to the greenhouse, a circular wooden hut that probably had once had a glass roof, but now only had wooden beams supporting it. To absolutely no one's surprise, when they walked in, Azula was trying to burn all of the rare herbs and plants down.

"What are you doing?" Izumi asked, "You know some of these only grow here, right?"

"They're far too overgrown," Azula retorted, a burst of fire in the palm of her hand, "Besides, we've gotten what we need from it," she glanced at Bumi, "Good, you're awake."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Bumi asked, "Are you going to drop us off at home like we were just at daycare or something."

"That is what I had in mind," Azula said, dropping the fire, "I'll go back into hiding, nothing lost, nothing gained." Azula seemed surprisingly calm, considering that their entire quest had been in vain. 

"Wait," Izumi said, "You aren't going to turn yourself in?" Azula started laughing, no, cackling.

"Izumi," she said, "You're a very smart girl, with an excellent understanding of criminal law, especially for your age, but you really don't understand your parents and their friends." She addressed both of them, "They hate me, and probably for good reason. Just because we had one heart to heart doesn't mean I'm going to stop thinking about my own ends. Pack up your things. We leave tonight. By tomorrow it will be like none of this ever happened." Izumi frowned and went up to speak to Azula quietly. Bumi backed out of the greenhouse and left the two of them to talk. If anything, it had gotten even foggier outside. He didn't want to go back into the institute. There was something about it that was just... unsettling. Instead he sat at the edge of the mountain top, and was joined by five little white kittens and one mother cat, that demanded to be petted. Bumi smiled and obliged. 

"Hey Bumi," Izumi slumped next to him.

"What did you talk about?" Bumi asked, although it wasn't very polite to inquire about a private conversation. 

"I told her I wanted her to be in my life," Izumi shrugged, "Even though she's done some awful things, Azula's still family, and I feel a connection to her."

"My dad says that everyone deserves a second chance," Bumi said, "He says that's how he found some of his closest friends, and despite what Azula said, I doubt he hates her. He doesn't hate anyone."

"Azula's probably had a lot of chances," Izumi admitted, "But I honestly... don't care what she did. I really don't want her to disappear again." she sighed, "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No," Bumi said, "You shouldn't worry about that. You're just a person, and I think this is how anyone in your position would feel." Izumi smiled at him, took a loose piece of string from her sleeve, and started playing with one of the kittens. Or, she was, before the roar of a bison could be heard in the distance. They glanced at each other and looked towards Oogie, but Oogie was sleeping in a hay pile next to the institute, so that could only mean...

The fog was swept aside as Appa landed outside of the greenhouse. Then, Aang, Katara, Zuko, and Mai jumped off and ran towards them.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked frantically coming up to both of them, "Are you hurt?"

"We're okay," Bumi said, "What-"

"Azula," Zuko said to Mai, "We need to find her. She can't get away this time." 

"Everything's going to be fine," Katara continued, "We'll get you home and safe, we just have to find Azula. She kidnapped you and she was responsible for the attack on the island. We got a message from Toph about it-"

"She's not in the greenhouse," Aang shouted. Izumi's eyes were darting around the mountain. Had Azula left them? Did she know this was going to happen?

"There's no need to fight," came her voice, unmistakable from next to Appa. Katara jumped to her feet and encased her in ice before Azula could say another word.

"I was going to say that I surrender," she finished. Izumi scrambled to her feet and Bumi followed. 

"You're... giving up," Zuko said, very confused.

"You can take me to the fire nation," Azula said, subdued, with a glance at Izumi, "I suppose I can't run forever. I need to face the consequences of all I've done."

"Oh, you'll go to the fire nation," Mai said, angrier than Bumi had ever seen her, "But before that, you're standing trial in Republic City, for the attack on the temple."

"I've done many things, but I didn't attack Air Temple Island," Azula said insistently. 

"And she didn't kidnap us, we made the choice to go with her!" Bumi shouted, getting their attention. His parents were speechless. Izumi looked relieved.

"Is this true," Zuko said slowly, addressing Izumi. She nodded. There was more silence, pressing down on them like the fog and mist. 

"We'll figure everything out later," Aang said shakily, using rope to tie Azula's hands together, while Katara begrudgingly melted the ice. Everyone was silent as they returned to Appa, whose massive tail pushed against the ground as they flew off. Bumi felt a pit in his stomach. He had been all the way across the world from his parents for the past few days, but he had never felt more apart from them than he had in this moment. They really hadn't thought things through.

~~~

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